OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare the success rates of the manual and motor-driven mini-screw insertion methods according to age, gender, length of mini-screws, and insertion sites. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 429 orthodontic mini-screw placements in 286 patients (102 in men and 327 in women) between 2005 and 2010 at private practice. Age, gender, mini-screw length, and insertion site were cross-tabulated against the insertion methods. The Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel test was performed to compare the success rates of the 2 insertion methods. RESULTS: The motor-driven method was used for 228 mini-screws and the manual method for the remaining 201 mini-screws. The success rates were similar in both men and women irrespective of the insertion method used. With respect to mini-screw length, no difference in success rates was found between motor and hand drivers for the 6-mm-long mini-screws (68.1% and 69.5% with the engine driver and hand driver, respectively). However, the 8-mm-long mini-screws exhibited significantly higher success rates (90.4%, p < 0.01) than did the 6-mm-long mini-screws when placed with the engine driver. The overall success rate was also significantly higher in the maxilla (p < 0.05) when the engine driver was used. Success rates were similar among all age groups regardless of the insertion method used. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, the motor-driven insertion method can be helpful to get a higher success rate of orthodontic mini-screw placement.
Female ; Hand ; Humans ; Male ; Maxilla ; Private Practice ; Retrospective Studies

The striking increase in colorectal cancer (CRC) has shown the great fatality in Korea for more than 15 years. The leading edge of this rising incidence rate is mainly due to the people's dietary changes in Korea. Some studies have reported that the dietary fiber does not have significant cytotoxic effects on CRC cells, which contrasts to the effects of probiotics. It gives a positive evaluation that the nonpathogenic spore-forming Bacillus species among the probiotics including fermented bacteria might have optimistic effects on CRC incidence rate. Recently, we isolated Bacillus lentus (BL) from Korean soybean fermented food. BL showed the cytotoxic effect on human colon carcinoma cell lines HCT116 and SW480. Interestingly, BL did not have effect on human dermal fibroblast cells and human hepatoma cell line HepG2. It suggested that BL has the target cell-specific cytotoxicity toward human colon carcinoma cells. To clarify the death signaling pathway underlying the BL-induced apoptosis in cancer cells, we analyzed the expression of caspases, Bax and Bcl-2 by western blotting. The apoptotic effects by cytotoxic elements were executed by direct BL contact or membrane-derived vesicles isolated from BL. Treatment of HCT116 with BL activated caspase-9, -3 and increased cleavage form of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP). However, caspase-8 activity was not increased by BL. BL-activated intrinsic pathway increased the pro-apoptotic Bax, decreased the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins on mitochondria, disrupted the mitochondrial membrane potential, and then released the cytochrome c from mitochondria. The membrane-derived vesicles (MVs) from BL induced apoptosis of the HCT116. Here, we propose that BL as a strong candidate for the development of apoptosis-specific anti-tumor agent will give great contribution to the understandings of the tumor-microbe interdisciplinary areas.
Apoptosis* ; Bacillus* ; Bacteria ; Blotting, Western ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; Caspase 8 ; Caspase 9 ; Caspases ; Cell Line* ; Colon* ; Colonic Neoplasms* ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; Cytochromes c ; Dietary Fiber ; Fibroblasts ; Humans* ; Incidence ; Korea ; Membrane Potential, Mitochondrial ; Membranes* ; Mitochondria ; Probiotics ; Soybeans ; Strikes, Employee

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is characterized by disturbances in epidermal barrier functions and the hyperactive immune response. Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) can be cultured from 90% of AD skin lesions and can exacerbate or contribute to the persistent skin inflammation in AD by secreting toxins with superantigenic properties. Superantigens can induce mast cell (MC) degranulation after penetrating the epidermal barrier. The role of MCs in AD is suggested by the increase in the MC number and MC activation. MCs are activated for degranulation and mediator release by allergens that cross-link IgE molecules or by microbial products. Therefore, MCs may be critically involved in the pathogenesis of AD. However, the understanding mechanisms of MC degranulation by S. aureus in relation to AD have still not been fully elucidated. In this study, we found that live S. aureus or methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) but not heat-killed bacteria induced MC degranulation. The heat-treatment partially inhibited MC degranulation by conditioned media (CM) of S. aureus or MRSA. The calcium chelator ethylene glycol tetraacetic acid (EGTA) did not block MC degranulation induced by live S. aureus or MRSA, but EGTA-treatment partially inhibited MC degranulation by CM from S. aureus or MRSA. These results suggest that live S. aureus and MRSA can degranulate MCs via direct interaction which may be important role in AD.
Allergens ; Bacteria ; Calcium ; Culture Media, Conditioned ; Dermatitis, Atopic ; Egtazic Acid ; Humans* ; Immunoglobulin E ; Inflammation ; Mast Cells ; Methicillin Resistance ; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus ; Skin ; Staphylococcus aureus ; Superantigens

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is characterized by disturbances in epidermal barrier functions and the hyperactive immune response. Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) can be cultured from 90% of AD skin lesions and can exacerbate or contribute to the persistent skin inflammation in AD by secreting toxins with superantigenic properties. Superantigens can induce mast cell (MC) degranulation after penetrating the epidermal barrier. The role of MCs in AD is suggested by the increase in the MC number and MC activation. MCs are activated for degranulation and mediator release by allergens that cross-link IgE molecules or by microbial products. Therefore, MCs may be critically involved in the pathogenesis of AD. However, the understanding mechanisms of MC degranulation by S. aureus in relation to AD have still not been fully elucidated. In this study, we found that live S. aureus or methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) but not heat-killed bacteria induced MC degranulation. The heat-treatment partially inhibited MC degranulation by conditioned media (CM) of S. aureus or MRSA. The calcium chelator ethylene glycol tetraacetic acid (EGTA) did not block MC degranulation induced by live S. aureus or MRSA, but EGTA-treatment partially inhibited MC degranulation by CM from S. aureus or MRSA. These results suggest that live S. aureus and MRSA can degranulate MCs via direct interaction which may be important role in AD.
Allergens ; Bacteria ; Calcium ; Culture Media, Conditioned ; Dermatitis, Atopic ; Egtazic Acid ; Humans* ; Immunoglobulin E ; Inflammation ; Mast Cells ; Methicillin Resistance ; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus ; Skin ; Staphylococcus aureus ; Superantigens

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between Body Mass Index (BMI) and dental caries by considering related factors in Korean children and adolescents. A total of 2,874 children, aged from 2 to 18, who participated in the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2013 – 2015 were included. BMI (kg/m²) was calculated, and participants were categorized into 4 groups using age and gender specific criteria. Decayed and filled teeth index were obtained. There were statistically significant differences in DMFT index between overweight group and other groups (p < 0.01). Underweight group showed the highest mean DMFT index compared to other groups. These findings suggest that children in obesity and underweight group tend to have more caries than normal group in this study.
Adolescent ; Body Mass Index ; Child ; Dental Caries ; Humans ; Korea ; Nutrition Surveys ; Obesity ; Overweight ; Thinness ; Tooth

BACKGROUND: Cigarette smoking is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and has both beneficial and harmful effects in CVD. We hypothesized that weight gain following smoking cessation does not attenuate the CVD mortality of smoking cessation in the general Korean population. METHODS: Study subjects comprised 2.2% randomly selected patients from the Korean National Health Insurance Corporation, between 2002 and 2013. We identified 61,055 subjects who were classified as current smokers in 2003–2004. After excluding 21,956 subjects for missing data, we studied 30,004 subjects. We divided the 9,095 ex-smokers into two groups: those who gained over 2 kg (2,714), and those who did not gain over 2 kg (6,381, including weight loss), after smoking cessation. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to estimate the association between weight gain following smoking cessation and CVD mortality. RESULTS: In the primary analysis, the hazard ratios of all-cause deaths and CVD deaths were assessed in the three groups. The CVD risk factors and Charlson comorbidity index adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) for CVD deaths were 0.80 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.37 to 1.75) for ex-smokers with weight gain and 0.80 (95% CI, 0.50 to 1.27) for ex-smokers with no weight gain, compared to one for sustained smokers. The associations were stronger for events other than mortality. The aHRs for CVD events were 0.69 (95% CI, 0.54 to 0.88) and 0.81 (95% CI, 0.70 to 0.94) for the ex-smokers with and without weight gain, respectively. CONCLUSION: Although smoking cessation leads to weight gain, it does not increase the risk of CVD death.
Cardiovascular Diseases* ; Comorbidity ; Humans ; Mortality ; National Health Programs ; Risk Factors ; Smoke* ; Smoking Cessation* ; Smoking* ; Weight Gain

Objective: Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is chronic inflammatory arthritis causing structural damage and radiographic progression to the spine due to repeated and continuous inflammation over a long period. This study establishes the application of machine learning models to predict radiographic progression in AS patients using time-series data from electronic medical records (EMRs). Methods: EMR data, including baseline characteristics, laboratory findings, drug administration, and modified Stoke AS Spine Score (mSASSS), were collected from 1,123 AS patients between January 2001 and December 2018 at a single center at the time of first (T1 ), second (T2 ), and third (T3 ) visits. The radiographic progression of the (n+1)th visit (Pn+1 =(mSASSSn+1 –mSASSSn )/(Tn+1 – Tn )≥1 unit per year) was predicted using follow-up visit datasets from T1 to Tn . We used three machine learning methods (logistic regression with the least absolute shrinkage and selection operation, random forest, and extreme gradient boosting algorithms) with three-fold cross-validation. Results: The random forest model using the T1 EMR dataset best predicted the radiographic progression P2 among the machine learning models tested with a mean accuracy and area under the curves of 73.73% and 0.79, respectively. Among the T1 variables, the most important variables for predicting radiographic progression were in the order of total mSASSS, age, and alkaline phosphatase. Conclusion Prognosis predictive models using time-series data showed reasonable performance with clinical features of the first visit dataset when predicting radiographic progression.

The aim of this study was to investigate the molecular characteristics and to conduct a comparative genomic analysis of Mycobacterium (M.) bovis strain 1595 isolated from a native Korean cow. Molecular typing showed that M. bovis 1595 has spoligotype SB0140 with mycobacterial interspersed repetitive units-variable number of tandem repeats typing of 4-2-5-3-2-7-5-5-4-3-4-3-4-3, representing the most common type of M. bovis in Korea. The complete genome sequence of strain 1595 was determined by single-molecule real-time technology, which showed a genome of 4351712 bp in size with a 65.64% G + C content and 4358 protein-coding genes. Comparative genomic analysis with the genomes of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex strains revealed that all genomes are similar in size and G + C content. Phylogenetic analysis revealed all strains were within a 0.1% average nucleotide identity value, and MUMmer analysis illustrated that all genomes showed positive collinearity with strain 1595. A sequence comparison based on BLASTP analysis showed that M. bovis AF2122/97 was the strain with the greatest number of completely matched proteins to M. bovis 1595. This genome sequence analysis will serve as a valuable reference for improving understanding of the virulence and epidemiologic traits among M. bovis isolates in Korea.
Animals ; Cattle* ; Genome ; Genomics ; Korea ; Molecular Typing ; Mycobacterium bovis* ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis ; Mycobacterium* ; Sequence Analysis ; Tandem Repeat Sequences ; Virulence

PURPOSE: Pim kinases are highly conserved serine/threonine kinases, and different expression patterns of each isoform (Pim-1, Pim-2, and Pim-3) have been observed in various types of human cancers, including gastric cancer. AZD1208 is a potent and selective inhibitor that affects all three isoforms of Pim. We investigated the effects of AZD1208 as a single agent and in combination with an Akt inhibitor in gastric cancer cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The antitumor activity of AZD1208 with/without an Akt inhibitor was evaluated in a large panel of gastric cancer cell lines through growth inhibition assays. The underlying mechanism was also examined by western blotting, immunofluorescence assay, and cell cycle analysis. RESULTS: AZD1208 treatment decreased gastric cancer cell proliferation rates and induced autophagy only in long-term culture systems. Light chain 3B (LC3B), a marker of autophagy, was increased in sensitive cells in a dose-dependent manner with AZD1208 treatment, which suggested that the growth inhibition effect of AZD1208 was achieved through autophagy, not apoptosis. Moreover, we found that cells damaged by Pim inhibition were repaired by activation of the DNA damage repair pathway, which promoted cell survival and led the cells to become resistant to AZD1208. We also confirmed that the combination of an Akt inhibitor with AZD1208 produced a highly synergistic effect in gastric cancer cell lines. CONCLUSION: Treatment with AZD1208 alone induced considerable cell death through autophagy in gastric cancer cells. Moreover, the combination of AZD1208 with an Akt inhibitor showed synergistic antitumor effects through regulation of the DNA damage repair pathway.
Apoptosis ; Autophagy ; Blotting, Western ; Cell Cycle ; Cell Death ; Cell Line ; Cell Proliferation ; Cell Survival ; DNA Damage ; Fluorescent Antibody Technique ; Humans ; Phosphotransferases ; Protein Isoforms ; Stomach Neoplasms